FXPA Releases Industry Guidance on the Role and Interpretation of FX Spread Grids
WASHINGTON, DC, June 29, 2026 – The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) today published new industry guidance designed to promote a common understanding of the role and interpretation of spread grids in foreign exchange markets. The paper, FXPA Guidance: The Role and Interpretation of FX Spread Grids, was developed through discussions within FXPA’s Buy Side Working Group and reflects perspectives from market participants across the global FX ecosystem.
Spread grids have long been used by market participants as a reference tool for understanding expected trading costs across currency pairs, tenors, notional sizes and market environments. However, differing interpretations of their purpose and application can sometimes lead to misaligned expectations between liquidity providers and market participants.
The guidance clarifies that spread grids are intended to provide indicative, contextual information regarding expected execution costs under representative market conditions. They are not firm quotes, contractual commitments, service-level agreements, or substitutes for executable price discovery and transaction cost analysis.
In his capacity as Chair of FXPA’s Buy Side Working Group, Richard Turner, Senior Trader at Insight Investment, noted: “Spread grids have been a longstanding feature of the FX market, providing valuable context around expected trading costs and liquidity conditions. However, as execution workflows become increasingly data-driven and sophisticated, it is important that market participants understand both what spread grids can tell us – and what they cannot. This guidance is intended to promote a common understanding of their role as reference tools, helping support more informed execution decisions, more constructive dialogue between counterparties, and stronger execution-quality assessment across the market.”
The paper outlines the appropriate use of spread grids from both liquidity provider and buy side perspectives and highlights common misconceptions regarding their application. It also emphasizes the growing importance of data-driven execution assessment through transaction cost analysis, RFQ histories, and observed execution data.
Key themes addressed in the guidance include:
- The intended purpose of spread grids as contextual reference tools
- Appropriate use cases for liquidity providers and buy side firms
- Common misconceptions regarding spread-grid interpretation
- The impact of market conditions, volatility and liquidity on execution outcomes
- The importance of complementing spread grids with transaction cost analysis and execution data
- Opportunities for greater industry alignment and communication regarding execution expectations
FXPA believes that greater clarity regarding the role of spread grids can help reduce friction in pricing discussions, improve buy side and sell side alignment, and support stronger execution-quality evaluation frameworks across the FX market.
The full guidance paper is available at https://fxpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Spread-Grids-Guidance.pdf
About FXPA
The Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA) is a Washington-based organization that represents the collective interests of institutional FX market participants. Through education, research, and advocacy, FXPA works to promote a sound, liquid, transparent, and competitive global currency market. Learn more at www.fxpa.org.
Media Contact:
Julie Ros
jros@fxpa.org